Their seventh CD, Last Days of Wonder (June. 2006) was one of Mojo’s top ten American Albums for 2006 and called “an unqualified triumph” by Uncut. Of their sixth CD, Singing Bones, The UK’s Independent wrote, “Rarely, even in the fatalistic world of country music, has the precarious mystery of mortality been captured with such poetic grace as on Singing Bones.”
They have appeared in the movie, I’m Your Man (2005), a tribute to Leonard Cohen as well as Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus (2004). In 2004, a reader's poll in Mojo named The Handsome Family's third CD, Through the Trees one of the ten essential Americana records.
Last Days of Wonder is a collection of love songs sung in airports, garbage dumps, drive-thru windows and shark-infested waters. The CD celebrates the little miraculous moments of beauty found in everyday life: a golf course shining in the rain, hanging lights bouncing in the breeze, pigeons singing from billboards, trees blooming in squares of dirt. The songs linger on those moments when we’re pulled from the ordinary to feel awed by mystery, bewildered by beauty, terrified by the vast unknowable around us (whether we wander through shady groves or crowded parking lots).
Brett Sparks, who writes the music, draws from medieval melody, country-politan string arrangements, tin-pan alley crooners, and dusty hillbilly records to weave together the fabric of this record. Rennie Sparks, who writes the lyrics, makes magical realism from polar adventure stories, pagan hunting songs and her own time spent (like most people) riding up elevators, staring out hotel room windows, and driving interstate highways. The entire album was recorded over a year's time in the converted garage studio at the back of the Sparks' Albuquerque house. Brett recorded it all on a Mac and a whole mess of wires, microphones and little metal boxes. Alongside the usual guitar, bass and drums you will hear mellotrons, ukulele, banjo, bowed wine glasses, and trombone.
Brett and Rennie (The Handsome Family) have been married for 18 years. In their live performances The Handsome Family are sometimes up to a six-piece band and sometimes just Brett and Rennie with (or without) a laptop computer.
Stalled
The Handsome Family Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Died from a blister on his toe
After walking all day through the first winter's snow
Throwing bits of stale bread to the last speckled doves
He never even felt his shoe full of blood
Delirious with pain, his bedroom walls began to glow
And the sky was a woman's arms
The sky was a woman's arms
A boy with a club foot
Had sat next to him in school
Once upon a summer's day they went wandering through the woods
They spotted a sleeping swan
On the banks of a muddy stream
And they stormed it with rock still it collapsed in the reeds
They lay out on a green lawn full of chocolate and lemonade
But under the blue bowl the giant was afraid
Because the sky was a woman's arms
The sky was a woman's arms
The Handsome Family’s song Stalled in 2-3 is a haunting and enigmatic piece that tells two stories – one about a “giant of Illinois” who dies from a blister on his toe, and another about two boys who stumble upon a sleeping swan in a muddy stream. At first glance, the two stories seem to be unrelated, but the song’s powerful imagery and unconventional storytelling invites us to explore deeper.
The song opens with a description of the “giant of Illinois,” who dies from a seemingly trivial injury. The image of a man brought down by something as small as a blister on his toe is both tragic and absurd, and it immediately sets the tone for the rest of the song. As we listen to the story, we get the impression that the giant was something of an outcast, throwing bits of stale bread to the last speckled doves and walking through the snow for hours on end. Even as he lay dying, he was still disconnected from the world around him, delirious with pain and seeing visions of the sky as a woman’s arms.
The second story tells of two boys who come across a sleeping swan in a muddy stream. They pelt the bird with rocks until it collapses in the reeds, and then they lay out on a green lawn and enjoy chocolate and lemonade. But even in this moment of carefree delight, the giant’s vision of the sky as a woman’s arms casts a shadow over the scene. We’re left wondering what connection exists between the two stories, and what the song as a whole is trying to say.
Line by Line Meaning
The giant of Illinois
Refers to a person known as the giant of Illinois
Died from a blister on his toe
The giant of Illinois died from a simple blister that caused an infection
After walking all day through the first winter's snow
The giant of Illinois walked through the snow all day long, despite it being his first winter, which caused the blister that killed him
Throwing bits of stale bread to the last speckled doves
The giant of Illinois threw pieces of old bread to the last remaining doves of a certain species
He never even felt his shoe full of blood
The giant of Illinois didn't realize his shoe was filled with blood due to the blister on his toe, indicating how much pain he was in
Delirious with pain, his bedroom walls began to glow
The giant of Illinois was in so much pain he started to hallucinate, seeing his bedroom walls glow
And he felt himself soaring up through falling snow
In his delirium, the giant of Illinois felt like he was flying through the falling snow
And the sky was a woman's arms
The giant of Illinois saw the sky as the arms of a woman, potentially representing his belief in a higher power or afterlife
A boy with a club foot
Refers to a person who had a club foot
Had sat next to him in school
The boy with the club foot was seated next to the giant of Illinois in school
Once upon a summer's day they went wandering through the woods
The two friends roamed through the woods on a summer day
They spotted a sleeping swan
They came across a resting swan
On the banks of a muddy stream
The swan was near a stream filled with mud
And they stormed it with rock still it collapsed in the reeds
They threw rocks at the swan, causing it to collapse in the reeds
They lay out on a green lawn full of chocolate and lemonade
After attacking the swan, they took a break on a green lawn and enjoyed chocolate and lemonade
But under the blue bowl the giant was afraid
Despite the pleasant surroundings, the giant of Illinois was still scared
Because the sky was a woman's arms
Like before, the giant of Illinois saw the sky as the arms of a woman, potentially representing his belief in a higher power or afterlife
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: BRETT SPARKS, RENNIE S SPARKS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind